Aims & Purpose

Men and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) is a program of research that investigates men’s mental health and wellbeing and how it affects and is affected by family life. This includes how men prepare for and enter fatherhood; as well as how men fare when they elect to not have children or when they are unable to become fathers.

We live in vastly different times to our parents. The choices available to us about whether we want children; when we want children; how we share work and home responsibilities with partners; and what the roles of father and mother entail are no longer straightforward. MAPP researchers are learning about how men adapt in this changing world, whatever the path they take.

Why study just men?

There are hundreds of studies from around the world that have investigated how women experience the transition to parenting. In comparison, very few have explored this important time of life for men. We now know that a father’s mental health is vitally important to his children and it is increasingly likely that traditional caregiving responsibilities are shared between parents. Understanding men’s mental health and wellbeing in relation to family life experiences is critically important for men, their families, partners, children or future children, social networks and workplaces.

Our work is part of a worldwide move by researchers to deeply understand the transition to fatherhood and to build knowledge about mental health for men who do not become fathers. In Australia, the Federal Government has identified this as a critical area of research in the National Male Health Policy.